


A Place Where Dreams Survive

by YaGirlSkyByte



Category: BanG Dream! (Anime), BanG Dream! Girl's Band Party! (Video Game), Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, But not as much Christmas as I'd intended, Christmas, F/F, More of a Bandori fic than a Transformers fic, corny as hell, inexplicable crossovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-24
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:02:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21943318
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YaGirlSkyByte/pseuds/YaGirlSkyByte
Summary: One Christmas Eve, Misaki and Kokoro make a very unusual new friend. Little do they realise that the fate of the entire world hangs in the balance...
Relationships: Okusawa Misaki/Tsurumaki Kokoro
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	A Place Where Dreams Survive

**Author's Note:**

> It's Christmas, so I wrote the most self-indulgent thing I could think of: a Bandori/Transformers crossover fic.
> 
> This is for me and me alone.

Misaki gazed up at the stars, clearer than she’d ever seen them, from the patio of Kokoro’s mountain retreat. She took a sip from her hot chocolate, trying to stave off the sting of the Christmas Eve air. It was a little weird, she supposed, being away from her family on Christmas for the first time, but her dad had assured her that they’d be fine, that she should take the opportunity to enjoy herself on her own terms for once. She smiled. She wasn’t entirely sure time spent with Kokoro was  _ on her own terms _ , exactly, but…

“Misakiiii!”

...It was certainly no bad thing.

“Hey, Kokoro…” Misaki greeted, deftly avoiding spilling her drink as the enthusiastic blonde lept on her from behind, peppering her cheek with kisses before resting her head on her shoulder. Misaki ruffled the other girl’s hair and responded with a quick kiss of her own, prompting a small, happy squeak from her girlfriend.

“Merry Christmas!” Kokoro chirped, tightening her hold on Misaki.

“It’s not Christmas for a few hours yet.”

Kokoro harrumphed adorably and looked up at the sky, her eyes darting between the stars that she’d become so familiar with. But tonight, she saw something new.

“Misaki! Misaki, look! A shooting star!” She pulled away from the hug, pointing out into the night and bouncing with excitement.

Misaki followed Kokoro’s gaze, soon spotting the astral projectile. “So it is.” she said, unsure how to respond. She’d never really known what to say about things like this. She’d always been more of a down-to-earth type, never one to marvel at the wonders of nature. She figured that maybe that’s why she and Kokoro worked so well together. No matter who she was talking to, Kokoro could always make everyone see the world from a new perspective.

“Misaki, you have to make a wish!” Kokoro declared, interrupting Misaki’s introspection.

“Whuh-?”

“I’m gonna wish to make loads more new friends so that we can all make the whole world smile together! You, and me, and all of Hello, Happy World!, and everybody else, too!”

Misaki took a moment to parse Kokoro’s accelerated speech, and sighed. “You know, they say your wish won’t come true if you tell anyone about it.”

“It can still come true if we work to make it come true!” Kokoro replied, that familiar sparkle of excitement in her eyes.

Misaki smiled, looking back into the sky to consider what her wish could be, when she noticed something odd. “I don’t think that’s a shooting star…” Whatever it was in the sky, rather than fading from view, it had gotten bigger -  _ closer _ , Misaki thought.

Kokoro’s eyes just brightened even more. “Maybe it’s Santa!”

“No, I don’t think that’s it either…” She kept watching as the whatever-it-was kept getting bigger and closer, and  _ louder _ , until it was almost deafening, and with a tremendous crash it smashed into the mountain, too close for Misaki’s liking, but thankfully not close enough for anyone to be hurt. “Are you okay?” she asked anyway, turning to face Kokoro again, only to find her missing. “Kokoro?”

“Misaki!” she called, from some distance away. Misaki soon spotted her waving. “Come on!”

“Where are you going? You can’t just…  _ ugh _ .” Misaki gave up before finishing her protest, knowing it was pointless to try and talk Kokoro out of heading for the crash site. She finished her drink and began making her way to join her. At the very least, she figured, she could try and keep her out of trouble.

* * *

“What the heck  _ is _ this?”

“It’s a spaceship, Misaki! A spaceship!”

“I mean, it’s probably just some experimental drone or something… I don’t see anywhere for a pilot to go…”

Voices? Yes. He could hear voices. That was something, at least. Whether it was a  _ good _ thing remained to be seen. His optic sensors hadn’t come back online yet, but he decided to try moving anyway. Maybe the shock to the system would set his senses straight.

“WHAT THE--”

“Misaki! It moved!”

“How!? What is-!?”

“It’s a robot! A  _ giant robot!! _ ”

Oh, Primus. Organics. And worse than that, organics who’d never even seen mechanical life before. Of all the backwater planets he could’ve crash-landed on…

“Excuse me? Mister Robot? Are you okay?”

A flash of light, and another, and with a quick knock to the head his optics were back in action. As he acclimated to the light, he surveyed his situation. He seemed to be on a mountain of some sort, and in the distance he could see signs of primitive civilisation. The ground was covered in some kind of disgusting green stuff, and in front of him…

“Hello! Can you understand me? I’m Kokoro!”

“Kokoro, get away from that thing! It could be dangerous!”

Two organic life-forms - pathetically tiny, barely more than five feet if that, and with no evident flight capabilities. Hardly even life, then, really. Still, he considered, he was a stranger to this world, and he wanted off of it as quickly as possible. A quick systems diagnostic confirmed his communications were down, probably for some time, and his thrusters were too damaged in the crash to reach escape velocity. For the time being, he was stuck here, and while he was no bleeding heart like those accursed Autobots, he knew that sometimes, co-operation was his best option.

Co-operation, Decepticon style.

* * *

A booming noise began to emanate from the hulking blue machine, and it took Misaki a moment to recognise it as laughter. Grimacing, and with no idea what to make of this new development, she redoubled her efforts to pull the entranced Kokoro away from whatever the hell that thing was.

Then it spoke.

“Oh, I  _ am _ , fleshling…  _ very dangerous indeed! _ ”

Misaki froze, her eyes drawn to the robot’s… face, it had a  _ face _ , contorted into a menacing grin, yellow eyes glowing harshly against the darkness of the night.

“I am Thundercracker of the Twenty-Fourth Decepticon Battle Fleet! You will assist me…  _ or perish! _ ” Protrusions on the robot’s arms began to glow purple - weapons, Misaki immediately assumed. She began hurriedly pulling on Kokoro’s arm again.

“Kokoro, come  _ on _ , we have to--”

“Okay.”

For a moment, the scene froze, both Misaki and the robot staring dumbly at Kokoro. All was silent but for the hum of the robot’s charging weapons

“What?”

“ _ What!? _ ”

She took a step forward, wrenching herself free of Misaki’s grip. “If you need help, we’ll help you! ‘Cause that’s what we do, right, Misaki?”

“Kokoro that is a  _ giant robot _ with  _ laser guns _ and it is  _ going to kill us _ .” Misaki’s protests fell on deaf ears. For a split second, she considered just running, and when that second passed she hated herself for even considering it. Suddenly, the hum of the weapons died down, and Misaki looked back up at the robot’s face. It looked… confused?

* * *

Thundercracker lowered his weapons, staring down in bewilderment at the yellow-headed fleshling. It… offered to help? Willingly? He’d barely even threatened it!

“...You don’t seem very frightened.”

The organic tilted its head and blinked. “Why would I be frightened?”

“Most people are frightened of me. I scare people, it’s… kind of my whole thing.” He leaned down to take a closer look at this curiously defiant organic. “So why aren’t you afraid?”

For a moment, it only smiled vacantly in response. Even by the standards Thundercracker had been taught to expect from organic life, this one seemed particularly stupid. “You seem nice!” it eventually proclaimed, much louder than its tiny frame would suggest it was capable of.

“Well, this is obviously getting us nowhere.” Thundercracker grumbled, standing up to his full height. “You!” he demanded, pointing at the other organic, “Do you have access to this world’s resources?”

* * *

“WHA--!?” Misaki yelled in surprise, as the robot suddenly addressed her directly. It was standing properly now, and it was more or less humanoid, albeit with two huge, triangular wings protruding from its back. She gulped, realising she didn’t even come up to its knees. This thing could step on them without even noticing if it wasn’t careful. Still, whatever it was, it had at least stopped actively threatening them, and Misaki was eager to keep it that way. “Uh, I mean… it depends what it is you need? Kokoro’s pretty rich…”

“Kokoro…” the robot repeated, obviously recognising the word as a name. “You refer to your companion?”

“That’s me!” Kokoro shouted, jumping in the air.

“Uh, yeah. That’s her.”

The robot nodded slowly, regarding the pair of them warily. After a moment, it reached its arms around its back, from which a loud whirring, clicking noise began to emanate. The robot grunted, and eventually produced from behind it what appeared to be a jet thruster. “I require a replacement thruster. One powerful enough to reach escape velocity. I assume your backwards little species has at least developed  _ some _ form of space travel, yes?”

Misaki twitched her head, unsure how she felt about being called a backwards little species. Still, from what she could tell, staying on this thing’s good side was vital to her continued survival. “Yes.” she eventually responded, attempting to stuff her fears back down her throat. “I’ll… see what I can do.” She grabbed Kokoro’s sleeve, pulling her along with her. “Come on, Kokoro. We have work to do, apparently.”

Kokoro pouted a little, but didn’t otherwise protest. As the two walked back to the house, she turned and waved to the robot. “Bye-bye, Thundercracker! Merry Christmas!!”

* * *

Thundercracker watched as the curious little organics made their way back to a tiny, brightly-lit building a little way further up the mountain - their barracks, he assumed. “Christmas?” he muttered to himself. His onboard translation software had never steered him wrong in the past, but there didn’t seem to be any Cybertronian equivalent to this concept. Perhaps it was a local deity of some kind, he figured.

He sat himself back down on the ground, eager to give his leg servos a rest. He wasn’t entirely sure he could trust these fleshlings to hold up their end of the bargain, but frankly, he wasn’t too worried. Worse case scenario, he’d have to vaporise them and go find someone more cooperative.

At that thought, he felt a strange tugging in his spark, one he thought he’d put to rest long ago. He grimaced, looking around for a way to take his mind off of it. After a moment of hunting, he grabbed a fistful of dirt. A soil sample. His onboard diagnostics should be able to manage that. A small compartment opened in his forearm, and he dumped the chunk of earth into it, hoping the analysis would keep him occupied long enough for his new allies to return.

* * *

As soon as Misaki got back inside, she started screaming.

“Misaki? Are you okay?”

“Okay?  _ Okay!? _ Of course I’m not okay! A  _ giant robot _ just threatened to  _ kill me _ if I didn’t get it some  _ spaceship parts! I am as far from okay as it is humanly possible to be!! _ ”

“What’s the problem? We just need to help him out a little so he can be on his way!”

Misaki groaned. She could feel a headache coming on. “Kokoro. I know you have trouble connecting with what’s around you sometimes, and that’s fine, and I love you, but we were just in  _ very real danger _ of being killed, likely in some new and exciting way no human has ever experienced before. So just… give me a minute, okay?”

Kokoro’s smile drooped, and Misaki couldn’t help but feel a little guilty. “Okay.” she said quietly, and left Misaki alone in the front room to gather her thoughts.

_ Deep breaths. Deep breaths, think about this rationally _ .

She’d just left that thing, whatever it was (Thundercracker? Did she hear it call itself Thundercracker?) entirely unsupervised on the mountain. Which she didn’t feel great about, but the only other option was leaving Kokoro alone with it, and that was even worse. Still, she didn’t know what it was capable of, or what it wanted. Did it really just want to leave Earth, or did it have some more sinister scheme up its sleeve? Why did it seem so hostile? Would she go back to find it gone, and the city below burned to the ground?

Misaki rushed to the window in a panic, and discovered she could still see the robot from the house, just about. It didn’t seem to be moving at all.

She breathed a sigh of relief before her mind got back to work. Practical. She was a practical person, she should be thinking practically about how to get rid of the robot. Could she destroy it? No, she soon decided - she wasn’t even sure there was enough firepower on Earth to take that thing out, and even so, it seemed to be alive. Or maybe something inside it was alive? Either way, Misaki didn’t feel comfortable about taking a life, even someone so blasé about threatening her. Were those empty threats, she wondered? Were she to refuse, to back out on the deal, would the robot really kill her? She wasn’t too eager to find out.

The only option, then, was to meet its demands and somehow acquire an engine powerful enough to escape the atmosphere. Were she with anybody else, this would seem impossible, but fortunately, she wasn’t with anybody else. She wouldn’t be surprised if Kokoro just had a spare spaceship lying around that they could scavenge for parts. Her eyes finally left the robot as she resolved to ask those suits that followed Kokoro everywhere about it. She wondered where she could find them. One of them was probably tailing her, she figured.

“Hey. Suit lady.”

“Miss Okusawa?”

_ Nailed it _ . “Do you know where we could get an engine from, like, a space shuttle or something? I know, I know, it’s stupid...”

“Not at all. In fact, Mistress Kokoro was just asking one of my colleagues a similar question, and we are looking into it already. We should have an answer for you in a couple of hours.”

“Good. I mean, thanks.” Misaki turned around, finally looking at the suit. She was still stood awkwardly in the corner where she’d been lurking. “Hey, how do you know that? Are you all, like, telepathic or something?”

The suit tilted her head. “We have earpieces, Miss Okusawa. We remain in constant communication.”

_ Great. Now I look like an idiot. _ “Okay, yeah, thanks. I’m just gonna go… find Kokoro.”

“She’s in the master bedroom.”

“Kinda creepy, but thanks.”

She made her way down the hall and, sure enough, found Kokoro waiting in the master bedroom, messing with the Christmas decorations that adorned the mantle above the bed. She carefully looked around the room for suits before speaking.

“Hey.”

“Misaki!” Kokoro immediately dropped what she was doing and almost leapt across the room, but stopped herself at the last second. “...Are you feeling better?”

“Yeah.” Misaki smiled weakly, outstretching her hands for Kokoro to take. She did, and Misaki kissed her. “Thanks.”

Kokoro made a small, happy noise in response as she rested her forehead against Misaki’s. “So what do we do now?”

“What are you asking me for?”

“You seemed upset earlier. I was worried it might be because of me…”

Misaki hugged her tighter. “Of course it’s not your fault. It’s just been a long night.” She looked out the bedroom window, out across the mountains. The robot wasn’t visible from this one, but she knew it was still out there. Still waiting. She let go of Kokoro. “I’m going to go back out there, try to keep that thing happy until we can get it out of here.”

“But I wanna go out too…” Kokoro pouted.

“It’s too dangerous. I don’t want you getting hurt.” she placed a hand on the other girl’s cheek. She was warm. “Stay here. Where it’s safe. Please?”

Kokoro nodded slowly. “Okay.”

“I’ll be safe. I promise.” she turned to leave, then stopped, turned back and kissed Kokoro once again. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

* * *

Analysing a soil sample, Thundercracker decided, should not take this long. There was definitely something weird going on, and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

“Hey!”

...But first, he was going to have to deal with this.

“Ah, fleshlings. Hello. Do you have what I asked of you?”

There was only one organic this time, the one with black stuff on its head. “We’re looking into it. We’ll have an answer for you in a few hours.”

Hm. Unsatisfactory. “I would like to speak directly with your commanding officer.”

“...What?”

He leaned down, wondering if the organic’s audio receptors could be malfunctioning. “Your commanding officer. Whoever you answer to. One who holds a higher rank than you in the chain of command. Where are they? I would like to speak with them.”

“...We don’t have a commanding officer.”

What. “What? That’s ridiculous. Don’t tell me this planet isn’t even developed enough to have a proper military command structure.”

The organic stood for a moment, gazing up at Thundercracker with its mouth hanging open. It seemed to be at something of a loss. “I’m sorry, there seems to be some confusion here.” the representative eventually continued. “We’re not… affiliated with any military organisation. We’re just civilians.”

Civilians? “...I don’t understand. How can you not be military?”

“...We’re just not? I don’t really get what you’re asking here…”

Thundercracker’s brain module worked faster than it ever had before, desperately trying to comprehend the little organics’ strange culture. “Well, you must have a function, yes?”

“Function?”

“A function! A function assigned to you by your polity at the moment of your creation, yes?” He explained. Surely this would work. Society couldn’t function without functionism, as they said.

“That… isn’t how anything works.”

He raised a hand to his forehead, trying to stave off the panic he could feel setting in. “Yes it  _ is! _ ” he insisted. “It’s the  _ only _ way anything works! You have to have a function!” He activated his on-board ventilation systems, exhaling excess gases from his pneumatic systems to calm down. “Look… my function is warrior, yes? So you are, what? Engineers? Communications officers?”

“I… musician, I guess? I’m a musician.”

“A musician? You mean like a propagandist?”

“...No, like an entertainer.”

There was a minor short circuit in Thundercracker’s brain module. He grabbed his forehead again, grunting in pain. From the corner of his eye, he could see the organic shifting awkwardly on its feet. After a moment, it spoke up.

“...Are you okay?”

Pathetic. Sympathy from an organic. “I’m  _ fine _ . Now leave me in peace. Return only when you have something  _ useful _ to say.” After only the briefest hesitation, the organic nodded and left. Thundercracker watched it leave, the conversation weighing heavy on his mind.

Non-military?

No state-designated function?

_ Entertainment? _

How was any of this even possible?

He was distracted from his ruminations by a high-pitched  _ ping _ . The soil sample! He’d almost forgotten. He pressed a few buttons on his built-in testing apparatus, uploading the data into his brain module. “This better be interesting…” He sifted through the results in his mind, hunting for keywords, and soon found one in particular that was very interesting indeed. No, more than that. He’d found something game-changing. Something he could never have dreamed of finding in a million years.

He’d found Ore-13.

* * *

“Misakiiiiiii!”

As soon as she re-entered the house, Misaki was immediately set upon by Kokoro, who seemed even happier to see her than normal.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine.” she reassured her, pushing her gently away so she could take her coat off.

Kokoro tilted her head, curious. “What happened?”

Misaki sighed. “A lot, I think.” she replied, still trying to figure out what, exactly, the ramifications of the conversation she’d just had were. “But basically, I think this situation just went from  _ absolutely terrifying _ to just  _ monumentally depressing _ .” She recounted the events of the meeting, Kokoro nodding thoughtfully along all the while.

“Hmm.” Kokoro hummed as soon as Misaki finished talking. “We have to put on a show!”

“How’d you arrive at that conclusion?”

“Think about it. If we can show them how wonderful our music is, maybe we can make them smile! And then maybe they’ll show all their friends back in space, and they’ll all see how much more fun life is when you get to choose what you want to do!” she explained excitedly. “We can make the whole  _ universe _ smile!”

“I don’t think that’s how this is gonna work.” Misaki said, placing a hand on Kokoro’s shoulder and smiling gently. “I don’t really know what’s going on up there, but… it sounds pretty bad. I don’t think we’re gonna be able to solve anything just by singing.”

Kokoro gazed over at Misaki, her eyes full of hope. “But we won’t know if we don’t try, right?”

“...I guess.”

“Yay!” Kokoro cheered, leaping into the air. “I’m gonna go check what equipment we have here! You call everyone else and ask them to come over as soon as possible!”

“Wait-- now!? Kokoro, it’s ten PM on Christmas Eve! Kokoro--!”

But Kokoro had already sped from the room, eager to begin her preparations. Left alone again, Misaki sighed.

“Is  _ every _ Christmas gonna be like this from now on…?”

* * *

Ore-13! The miracle fuel! It was said that just one drop of Ore-13 could power a whole battalion for a week. And, from what Thundercracker could tell, this whole planet was stuffed full of it! Once he reunited with his unit, he could call the whole Decepticon army down to Earth, drain the planet dry, and crush the Autobots effortlessly! Then once the war was over and Lord Megatron had taken his rightful place as High Emperor of Cybertron, he could…

He could…

He could do what, exactly? His function was warrior, and warriors would not be needed when the time came for peace. Would he be reassigned?

Would he be  _ decommissioned _ ?

His eyes flared in panic as a sudden realisation came to him. He’d always assumed that once the war was over, he’d finally be free to do as he pleased. But could Megatron really deliver on that promise?  _ Would _ he? Had he even made such a promise, or had that all been a naïve fantasy on Thundercracker’s part?

He searched his memory banks for an answer.

He remembered coming online in the Protohex Nursery Barracks and immediately being fitted with his arm-mounted null rays.

He remembered telling Trepan in his orientation interviews that he was interested in writing, and being marked as a “potential threat” until he stopped expressing such interests.

He remembered coming face-to-face with an injured Autobot during his first ever combat assignment, and how he’d been reprimanded for allowing her to escape.

He remembered attending Megatron’s mandatory speech at Darkmount.

And he remembered the promise he had heard Megatron make that day.

_ Peace through tyranny _ .

The end goal of the Decepticons. The credo Thundercracker had fought for his whole life. But as he contemplated the victory so close at hand, he couldn’t help but find himself wondering…

_ Why? _

* * *

_ Bzzzt-bzzzt _ .

…

_ Bzzzt-bzzzt _ .

…

_ Bzz- _

“Hello?”

“Hey, Kanon. Sorry for calling so late…”

“N-no, it’s fine. Are you okay?”

“Uh… yeah, sure. I’m great. Listen, I’m really sorry about this, but Kokoro wants everyone to come meet up in the mountains…”

“W-why…?”

“It’s… kind of hard to explain? Uh… she wants to put on a show, basically.”

“Oh, um… okay! I-I’ll be there soon, then…”

“No, we’ll come pick you up. Just wait… you’re at home, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Good. Just wait there, we should be down in about an hour.”

“Okay! I’ll see you then…”

“Yep, cool. Bye.”

“Bye.”

“Bye.”

Misaki put down her phone, hesitating a moment before hanging up  _ just in case _ Kanon had anything else to say. Mission accomplished, though. The rest of the band were somehow on board, so all she had to do now was pick Kanon up and hope Thundercracker didn’t decide to kill them all.

She gulped.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.

“Kokoro!” she called down the hall.

“Yeah?” a tiny voice returned.

“Come on, we have to go get the others!”

“Okay!” There was a loud clattering, followed by Kokoro dashing around the corner and down the hall to meet Misaki. “Should we tell Thundercracker we’re going?”

“Thunder-?”  _ Right. The robot _ . “Hm. Yeah, I guess we probably should. Wouldn’t want them thinking we’ve backed out on the deal.” She nodded gravely and went to get her coat. “Come on. We should probably make sure our audience isn’t feeling too murderous.”

* * *

“Thundercracker!”

At the sound of his name, the troubled Decepticon turned to observe the two human representatives approaching him, the yellow-haired one rather faster than its counterpart. Wishing to avoid a repeat of their last meeting, he quickly donned his game face.

“What is it?”

“We’re gonna put on a show for you!”

“Kokoro, that’s not what we… ugh. Never mind.” the other one grumbled, to no avail.

“A…  _ show? _ ” Thundercracker echoed. “I do not recall requesting any such thing. Where is my engine, human?”

“We’ve got friends working on it.” the other replied. “I promise, the moment we find anything out, you’ll be the first to know. Kokoro just thought this might be fun in the meantime.”

“Yeah! We’re gonna play all our best songs and show you how cool Earth is! Then you can go home and tell everyone else all about it, and they’ll see how much more fun life is when you get to choose what you want to do!”

For a moment, Thundercracker simply observed the human, searching for some trace of deception or mockery. To his surprise, he found none. “Hmph. You sound like an Autobot.”

Its face fell a little. “Is that a bad thing?”

“...I don’t know.”

“Okay then!” it replied, its smile returning in force. “We’ll be back soon! Buh-bye!”

“I’ll catch up with you.” the black-haired one called after its rapidly departing companion. Thundercracker eyed it curiously, steeling himself for whatever questions it had for him. This one seemed remarkably intelligent. “‘Human?’”

“What?”

“You just called us fleshlings before. Why are we humans now? How do you know we’re humans?”

Thundercracker blinked. “That’s… very perceptive of you.”

“Thank you. So why is it?”

“I… connected myself to your global communications network. The  _ internet _ , I believe you call it.”

“Ooh, that’s a mistake.”

“I am inclined to agree. I had intended to find answers, but left with only more questions.”

“...What kind of questions?” The human seemed wary.

“Of my purpose. My  _ function _ . All my life I’ve been fighting for a cause, but… I’ve realised it’s a cause I barely understand. I’ve only ever dedicated myself because I’ve been told to, without ever knowing why. I used to ask, but… I think I lost that part of me somewhere along the way.”

“Those seem like the right kind of questions to be asking.”

Thundercracker scowled. “Whatever. I wouldn’t expect a human to understand.”

“Maybe we can’t. Not in the same way you can.” Suddenly, there was an odd sensation on his leg, and he realised the human had placed its hand on him. It was cold, and slightly wet, and strangely comforting. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t help you.”

A moment of silence passed. The human removed its hand.

“My name’s Misaki, by the way. Since you asked.”

“...Thundercracker.”

“I know. Listen, I gotta get going before Kokoro does anything stupid. Back soon, okay?”

Thundercracker nodded, and as Misaki left, he realised that perhaps he’d misjudged her. Perhaps he’d misjudged all her kind.

No, no. That wasn’t right.

He definitely had.

* * *

“A g-giant robot?”

“ _ A GIANT ROBOT!? _ ”

“Ah… a visitor from beyond the stars. How fleeting…”

Misaki shifted awkwardly on her feet as she observed her assembled bandmates’ reactions. About what she’d expected, really. “I know, I know it’s hard to believe, but…”

“I-it’s not that we don’t believe you! It’s just… k-kind of a surprise, is all…”

Misaki smiled, holding a hand up at Kanon’s protest. “It’s fine if you don’t believe me, really. As soon as Kokoro and the suits have got all our equipment ready, we’re gonna go out there and… Hagumi, can you please sit still?”

The excitable athlete promptly stopped jumping up and down, instead staring at Misaki with eager eyes. “Giant robot?”

“Ah, it seems dear Hagumi is impatient…” Kaoru declared, brushing a strand of purple hair away from her face. “Fear not, my kitten! All shall be revealed in good time, I am certain.”

“Giant robot?”

Misaki sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. “Okay, I’m gonna go tell Kokoro we’re headed out to meet him now. Just… he can be a little abrasive, okay? Bear that in mind. But I don’t think he’s really a bad guy.”

* * *

Thundercracker cast a wary eye over the new group of humans that had brought before him. One, with blue hair, cowered behind Misaki - the expected reaction, he supposed, although it was now much less gratifying than he’d previously hoped. A second, with purple hair, seemed to be more confused than anything. The final, orange-haired newcomer just stared in awe. “I’m… Thundercracker.” he eventually said, after a few moments of awkward silence. “And, ah… who might you be?”

“My name is Kaoru Seta.” one of them declared. “I confess, my mechanical friend, that I was sceptical of your existence at first. She’d never admit it, but Misaki here has a tendency to get rather deep into character at times, so I thought perhaps you were an element of her performance. But alas! This is indeed a giant robot I see before me.”

“...Uh-huh. What about you two?”

Misaki gently nudged the one who was hiding behind her, and offered a few encouraging words that Thundercracker couldn’t hear. “I-I’m Kanon Matsubara..." she eventually said, very quietly. She bowed deeply all of a sudden. “It’s, er… it’s n-nice to meet you…”

Thundercracker responded uncertainly in kind, nodding his head stiffly towards her. “It’s… nice to meet you, too.” He turned to the final newcomer expectantly, but she just continued to stare in awestruck silence.

“Hagumi.” Misaki prompted. “Hagumi!”

“Hagumi!” Hagumi shouted, extending a hand for some reason. “Are you really a robot? What planet are you from? Can you fly? Can you transform?”

“Er…”

“Hey! Hagumi!” Misaki interrupted, placing a hand on her bandmate’s shoulder. “Don’t be rude.”

“Oh, yeah. Um… sorry, Mr. Thundercracker…” She seemed rather put out.

“...It’s fine.”

Misaki looked up at him, a look of faint surprise crossing her features, but she shrugged and stood aside. Hagumi’s excitement visibly returned.

“So, to answer your questions… one, no, I’m not a robot, I’m a bio-mechanical organism. A common mistake made by organic races. Or, ah… so I’m told. Two, I am from Cybertron, about a hundred or so light years from here. I sincerely doubt you’ve seen it. Three, of course I can fly. What do you think these wings are for? And four, yes, I am capable of converting into a HPI Heavy Assault Tetra-Fighter. Although I’m currently short an engine.” At the end of his monologue, he looked down to find Hagumi still staring with rapt attention.

“Wow…” she whispered. “Could you beat a Gundam in a fight?”

“...I don’t know what that is.”

“What about Godzilla?”

“Um…”

“Okay, that’s enough questions for now.” Misaki announced, gently pulling Hagumi away. “Look, our stuff’s here.”

* * *

Misaki watched with some relief as a van pulled up nearby. Maybe setting up for a performance would help distract Hagumi from her awkward interview, and Kanon from her abject terror, and Kaoru from… well, Kaoru was dealing with this pretty well, all things considered. Even so, it was best to try and keep Kaoru distracted as a general rule, Misaki found.

As soon as the van stopped moving, Kokoro hopped out of the passenger side door and ran towards Misaki. “Misaki! Misaki! Guess what?”

“What is it?” Misaki asked, gently pushing against Kokoro to prevent her sudden hug from bowling them both over.

“It’s Christmas!”

Misaki checked her phone. 00:21. Huh. “Merry Christmas, Kokoro.” She kissed her, and Kokoro giggled adorably. “I kinda feel bad for dragging everyone out here on Christmas morning though…”

“They’re here because they want to be.” Kokoro said simply. “None of us want to put on a show where we’re not having fun, right? They came because they wanted to spend time with us on Christmas! Don’t you think that’s wonderful?”

“You, maybe. I doubt they’re here to spend time with me.”

“Hmph.” Kokoro harrumphed, and hugged her tighter. “Of course they want to see you. I thought I told you to stop being mean to yourself. It makes me sad.”

Misaki laughed. “Sorry. Force of habit.”

With one last squeeze, Kokoro let go. “I’m gonna go help the others set up. You call Michelle, okay?”

“Uh… sure.” she replied, watching as Kokoro ran towards the spot Hagumi was effortlessly hauling a gigantic subwoofer to. At this point, Misaki was genuinely unsure whether Kokoro was still unaware of Michelle’s true nature, or if she was just doing a bit. For all the time they’d spent together, some parts of her girlfriend’s mind remained truly inscrutable.

“Miss Okusawa.” An officious voice from behind her. “The Michelle suit is in the van. Whenever you’re ready.”

“Right.”

The suit turned to Thundercracker and gave him a curt nod. “Sir?”

“Whuh?”

“Your engine will be delivered shortly. We hope it will be to your satisfaction.”

“Oh. Um… thank you.” Thundercracker replied. Misaki observed his giant face with curiosity. Earlier, he seemed desperate to get offworld as soon as possible, but now…

Hmm.

Still, problems for later.

“I’m gonna go get changed.”

* * *

A few minutes after Misaki entered the vehicle, a hairy pink thing emerged - larger, but still tiny to Thundercracker. He watched its progress curiously for a moment before turning back to the van. “Misaki?”

“Over here.”

The pink thing was waving at him.

“Oh! I apologise. Is this your alternate mode?”

“Alt..? No, it’s just a costume. I’m inside here.”

“Ah, I see. It’s a Pretender shell.”

“...Sure. Anyway, what is it?”

“Well. I was just wondering if, maybe, we could… speed things along a little?”

For a moment, Misaki remained silent, her Pretender shell rendering it impossible to see her expression. On closer inspection, it sort of reminded Thundercracker of a pink version of Polarclaw. Not an encouraging comparison.

“I mean, I get you wanna go home, but there’s really nothing I can do. The engine’ll get here when it gets here.”

“I see.”

“Funny, though. I was just thinking you looked a bit less eager to leave compared to earlier. Was I wrong?”

“...Yes. Yes, you obviously were. I don’t want to spend a second longer than I absolutely have to on this planet.”

“I see.” Misaki observed him for a moment, still completely impassive. “Well, I’m very sorry for keeping you.” Her expression may have been hidden, but the ice in her voice wasn’t. Maybe the Polarclaw comparison wasn’t so off.

Another strange pull at his spark. Why? Why should he care about some fleshling’s feelings? Just because he doesn’t want them dead, doesn’t mean he has to  _ like _ them.

Ugh.

Of course, he realised, he was lying to himself too. He’d lied to her in the first place in an attempt to spare her feelings, after all. If she knew the  _ real _ reason he was so eager to leave Earth, then… well, he had to admit he wasn’t entirely sure what she’d do.

But he was pretty sure that people don’t typically react well when told that their planet’s doomed.

* * *

Misaki’s grumbling was muffled by her costume as she arrived at the staging area. The suits and her bandmates had done a pretty good job of setting everything up. Looked like everything was more or less ready to go, in fact.

“Not sure what the point is, though.”

“Misaki?” Kanon’s voice somehow startled Misaki, despite being possibly the quietest thing known to man. “What’s wrong?”

“Other than a frightening lack of peripheral vision? Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. I’m fine.”

Kanon’s disappointed face. A rarity, but extremely powerful.

“...I don’t know if this is worth it. I thought maybe, just maybe, if we showed him what we could do, he might… I dunno. Change? But whatever. It’s clearly not working.”

“Why do you care so much?”

“What?” That seemed like a weird question for Kanon to ask, of all people.

“You only just met him, and y-you’ve always tried to seem apathetic. So why do you care so much about him?”

Misaki thought back to the conversation that started all this, that bizarre little exchange about rank and function. “...He was scary, at first. I mean, of course he’s scary. Look at him. But as I spoke to him, I realised… he’s just kind of sad and lonely.” She shrugged. “‘Make the world smile.’ That’s what we’re supposed to do, right? I guess I was just giving the old band spirit a go.”

Kanon smiled warmly, and Misaki smiled back even though she couldn’t see it. “I don’t know how old he is, but I’m w-willing to bet it’s a lot older than any h-human. And you’ve only known him for a few hours.” She reached up to place a hand on Misaki’s shoulder. “Change takes time, Misaki. I thought you’d know that better than anyone. Even if it doesn’t work right away, who knows? M-maybe one day it will touch his heart, and then he’ll share that feeling with someone else, and them with somebody else, and what we do tonight will have been the start of something truly wonderful. But that can’t happen if we do nothing.”

“And what if it doesn’t work?”

“Then we all spent Christmas together for nothing. Does that sound so bad to you?”

A low thrum nearby, and Misaki looked up to see Kaoru testing her guitar. Behind her, Hagumi shoved the last speaker into place, leaping triumphantly when she completed her task.

“...No. No, I guess it doesn’t.”

“Come on, then. We’ve got a show to do.” With that, she headed over to her drumkit and began a quick sound test.

“Michelle! You made it!” Misaki was distracted by Kokoro suddenly leaping on her from behind, which took the wind out of her even with Michelle acting as a buffer.

“Course I did. Wouldn’t miss this for the world.”

* * *

The stage was set, one of the anonymous, dark-clothed humans had informed Thundercracker. He’d tried asking some of their names, but they hadn’t answered, and he was left unsure which of them was being rude in that situation.

The stage, such as it was, was rudimentary - a few lights and some audio equipment hooked up to a large portable generator. The band had changed into elaborate red outfits - some kind of ceremonial dress, he figured.

After a few moments, the lights flew on, and Kokoro began to speak.

“Hello, everybody!”

Thundercracker looked around for the rest of the audience he assumed he must have missed. He failed to find them.

“I hope you’re having a really great night so far! Now, normally I’d introduce us as Hello, Happy World! But tonight we’ve got a very special guest in the audience who’s gonna help us aim a little bit higher! And so, tonight! For one night only! We are!”

A sudden guitar strum - loud, violent. Exhilarating.

“Hello, Happy Universe!!”

And the show began. Unfamiliar sounds, alien rhythms and melodies, all working together, harmonising and uniting to create something strangely beautiful.

It had been so long, Thundercracker realised, since he had last heard music.

He remembered days spent locked in his quarters, secretly composing plays nobody would ever perform.

He remembered smuggled data slugs full of audio clips from before the war - songs and dramas and simple, boring, wonderful everyday life.

He remembered nights sneaking out of the barracks to meet with an Autobot he really shouldn’t have liked as much as he did.

As the band played on, music washing over him like crashing waves, he remembered every ordinary thing he’d ever been denied, and the memories of old times mixed in with something new, something perhaps a little bit dangerous.

And for the first time in a very, very long time, Thundercracker had hope that, one day, those things could still be his.

The concert ended far too soon.

“I’m afraid that’s all we’ve got time for tonight! You’ve been such a wonderful audience, and I’m really sorry we can’t play for longer, but some of us really need to get going! After all, I’m sure some of you out there have a long journey home ahead of you!”

He smiled a little at that.

“So I’d just like to wish everyone good night! And merry Christmas!”

That greeting again. He still didn’t understand it.

As the band began to dismantle their equipment, he heard a cough to his left. One of the suits.

“Pardon me, sir. It appears your engine has been delivered.”

* * *

Installing the engine had been a surprisingly simple task - Thundercracker had simply picked it up and stuck it to his back where he’d taken the old one off. Apparently, he’d be able to assimilate the materials into his biology or something.

And now he stood before the band, preparing to say his goodbyes. Misaki couldn’t say she was expecting much.

“Thank you.”

Yeah, that was probably gonna be it.

“I. I really mean it. Thank you.”

Okay, laying it on a little thick. You can go now.

“For a long time, I’d… I’d forgotten what it was like, to be my own person. I’ve always just been a soldier. But here… here I’m free. And I just want… I need to thank you all for showing me that.”

Misaki looked around at the rest of the band. None of them seemed prepared to say anything.

So she decided she would.

“You don’t have to go.”

Thundercracker cocked his head slightly, looking straight down at her.

“You could stay here. Be free forever. If you really want to.”

He shook his head. “I… I can’t.” his voice was quiet now, somehow, despite his gargantuan stature. “If I stay here, they’ll come looking for me. And…” He hesitated, gazing into the distance, and something in his eyes made Misaki finally realised just how old he truly was. “I should have told you this earlier, but… there’s something on this planet that the other Decepticons have been searching for for a very long time. If they find out it’s here… they’ll tear this world to shreds.”

A hush fell over the band, their usual energy replaced with something far more grave. Even Kokoro seemed subdued.

“I can’t let that happen. So I have to go.”

Misaki nodded. “Right.”

Thundercracker turned away. A series of clicking, whirring noises began to build up, before suddenly dying down again, and suddenly he turned back around.

“Actually,” he said, “before I go. Way back… a long time ago, I wanted to be a writer. I wrote plays, and… I mean, I could never show them to anybody else, but… I guess I can show them to you.” A compartment in his wrist dispatched some kind of tablet device, which, with a few swipes and taps, shrank down to a more manageable size for humans. “Here. ‘Solus Unbound.’ My best work, if I do say so myself. If you’re ever out by Cybertron… stop by and tell me what you think.”

Misaki laughed, a little sadly. “Will do!” Kokoro announced, and nobody could tell if she was being serious or not.

He turned away again, and looked back over his shoulder to deliver one last message.

“Merry Christmas.”

He lept into the air, and with a sudden rush of whirs and clicks, he transformed, his form replaced by that of a sharp, angular spacecraft. The engines kicked in, and with a rush of artificial wind, he was gone, nothing but another speck of light in the clear, starry sky.

Misaki felt Kokoro’s hand join with her own.

“Do you really think we got through to him?”

Kokoro nodded, determined. “Of course we did. Trust me.”

“I-I think so, too!” Kanon announced. “He really seemed to believe in what he was saying just now… a-and I think it’s all thanks to you, Misaki!”

“Indeed. Our time together was fleeting, but I think it has made a lasting impression on our extraterrestrial comrade.”

Everyone turned to Hagumi, who still stood staring at the spot of sky Thundercracker had vanished into.

“...Hagumi?” Misaki ventured. “Do you have anything you want to add?”

For a moment, she just stood there. When she eventually did speak, it was in tones so hushed and reverential Misaki could hardly believe it was Hagumi talking.

“That was the coolest thing I have ever seen.”

* * *

It was around Jupiter that Thundercracker reunited with his ship - a small, Seeker-class scout vessel, fit for a crew of three. Upon his return, he found Skywarp waiting for him, lounging around lazily and slurping on a cube of Engex.

“Hey, man. Where you been?”

“Scouting.”

“Fair. Boss man’s been looking for you, by the way.”

“ _ Thundercracker!! _ ” As if on cue came the shrieking, piercing voice of the infamous commander of the Seekers.

“Starscream.” Thundercracker acknowledged, struggling to conceal his distaste for his commanding officer.

“Where have you been? You were supposed to report back  _ hours _ ago! You’re lucky Skywarp was here to vouch for you, or else I would have just left you out here to rot!”

“Apologies, commander. I had a rough landing on Sol-3 and damaged both my engines and communicator. However, rest assured that I was able to perform my survey unimpeded.”

“ _ And? _ ”

“Nothing, sir. Just a barren, lifeless rock. Completely worthless.”

Thundercracker tensed as Starscream stared into him, his blazing red optics seeming to pierce through to his very spark.

But the moment passed.

“I  _ knew _ it!  _ Lord Megatron _ has sent us on yet another  _ fool’s errand _ ! I swear, if  _ I _ were in charge, the Autobots would have been ground into dust  _ years _ ago…” Thundercracker listened to the arrogant grumbles getting quieter and quieter as Starscream descended down the hall. Only when he was completely gone did Thundercracker finally let relief wash through his system.

He’d saved a whole world.

One simple lie and he’d saved a whole world.

“Hey, Skywarp.” he grinned, turning with a skip in his step.

“Yeah?”

“You ever thought about getting into music…?”

**Author's Note:**

> in xal's name, that turned out way longer than i thought it would


End file.
